Tracheal branching in ants is area-decreasing, violating a central assumption of network transport models

Ian J. Aitkenhead1, Grant A. Duffy1, Citsabehsan Devendran2, Michael R. Kearney3, Adrian Neild2 and Steven L. Chown1,*

1 School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia, 2 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia, 3 School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia

* steven.chown@monash.edu

Metadata explanation for the file: Synch2_dataset_slc_final.csv

Column heading	Meaning	
Syringe	Syringe used for holding ants	
Species	Species name	
Caste	Worker, minor worker, major worker, queen (if applicable)	
Individual	Individual number	
Length	Length of individual in microns	
Branch1	Tracheal branch Level 1 (i.e. largest close to spiracle) radius in micrometre	
Branch2a	First tracheal branch at Level 2, radius in micrometre	
Branch2b	Second tracheal branch at Level 2, radius in micrometre	
Branch2c	If applicable (otherwise NA), third tracheal branch at Level 2, radius in micrometre	
Branch2d	If applicable (otherwise NA), fourth tracheal branch at Level 2, radius in micrometre	
Branch2e	If applicable (otherwise NA), fifth tracheal branch at Level 2, radius in micrometre	
Branch3a	First tracheal branch at Level 3, of Branch2a, radius in micrometre	
Branch3a	Second tracheal branch at Level 3, of Branch2a, radius in micrometre	
Branch3b	First tracheal branch at Level 3, of Branch2b, radius in micrometre	
Branch3b	Second tracheal branch at Level 3, of Branch2b, radius in micrometre	
Branch3c	First tracheal branch at Level 3, of Branch2c, radius in micrometre	
Branch3c	Second tracheal branch at Level 3, of Branch2c, radius in micrometre	
B1r2	Radius of branch Level 1 squared, micrometre	
B2ar2	Radius of branch Level 2a squared, micrometre	
B2br2	Radius of branch Level 2b squared, micrometre	
B2cr2	Radius of branch Level 2c squared, micrometre	
B2dr2	Radius of branch Level 2d squared, micrometre	
Branch3a1r2	Radius of first tracheal branch at Level 3a squared, micrometre	
Branch3a2r2	Radius of second tracheal branch at Level 3a squared, micrometre	
Branch3b1r2	Radius of first tracheal branch at Level 3b squared, micrometre	
Branch3b2r2	Radius of second tracheal branch at Level 3b squared, micrometre	
Suml2r2all	Sum of squared values for tracheal branches at Level 2, micrometre	
Suml2r2bi	Same as previous	
Suml3ar2	Sum of squared values for tracheal branches at Level 3a, micrometre	
Suml3br2	Sum of squared values for tracheal branches at Level 3b, micrometre	
B1r3	Radius of branch Level 1 cubed, micrometre	
B2ar3	Radius of branch Level 2a cubed, micrometre	
B2br3	Radius of branch Level 2b cubed, micrometre	
B2cr3	Radius of branch Level 2c cubed, micrometre	
B2dr3	Radius of branch Level 2d cubed, micrometre	
Branch3a1r3	Radius of first tracheal branch at Level 3a cubed, micrometre	
Branch3a2r3	Radius of second tracheal branch at Level 3a cubed, micrometre	
Branch3b1r3	Radius of first tracheal branch at Level 3b cubed, micrometre	
Branch3b2r3	Radius of second tracheal branch at Level 3b cubed, micrometre	
Suml2r3all	Sum of cubed values for tracheal branches at Level 2, micrometre	
Suml2r3bi	Same as previous	
Suml3ar3	Sum of cubed values for tracheal branches at Level 3a, micrometre	
Suml3br3	Sum of cubed values for tracheal branches at Level 3b, micrometre	
Suml2radall	Sum of radii for tracheal branches at Level 2, micrometre	
Suml2radi	Same as previous	
Suml3arad	Sum of radii for tracheal branches at Level 3a, micrometre	
Suml3brad	Sum of radii for tracheal branches at Level 3b, micrometre